Neither rain delays nor a rash of accidents, including a horrifying one on the final lap, could stop Carl Edwards from winning Saturday’s 5-Hour Energy 200 Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Edwards, the pole sitter, led the way for the second and final green-white- checkered attempt. While Edwards and Joey Logano were battling for the lead on the second-to-last lap, both drivers got loose, with Logano banging into the outside wall along the frontstretch.
Logano then bumped into third-place runner Clint Bowyer, who flipped on his side before landing right side up near the inside retaining wall along pit road. Brad Keselowski, Steve Wallace and Mike Bliss were also caught up in the melee.
NASCAR ended the race under caution, with Edwards claiming his third Nationwide victory of the season and the 32nd of his career. His first Nationwide win at Dover came in June 2007. MiamiHerald.com
At first, Edwards thought he had hit Logano to start the massive Lap 209 wreck that destroyed the cars of Logano and Clint Bowyer, among others.
“Damn it—I didn’t mean to hit him,” Edwards radioed after the accident. “Is everybody all right?”
Replays showed clearly, however, that Edwards made no contact with Logano as the two raced for the lead. Logano had a lead of almost a car length before the rear of his car stepped out and he slammed the outside wall. Logano bounced off the wall and into the path of Bowyer, whose Chevrolet careened into the inside wall.
“I’m just glad it worked out,” Edwards said after the race. “I’m glad that I didn’t hit him. I’m glad that everyone was OK. But that’s a product of what we do. When it comes down to it … this race track, we’re driving so hard here, and there’s so much grip, and you’re giving everything you can, and the cars are so close there at the end. …
“Obviously, Joey was racing as hard as he possibly could. I was racing as hard as I could. Man, that’s why they call it the Monster Mile.” NASCAR.com
Bowyer, who led 37 laps, was lucky the accident wasn’t worse. His car could have sailed over the wall at the track appropriately dubbed the Monster Mile.
“It was certainly pretty wild,” he said. “It was just unfortunate.”
The accident shook up the final results. Kyle Busch was second and Reed Sorenson third. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and David Reutimann round out the top five.
Logano finished 13th and Bowyer 14th. Elliott Sadler took a 10-point lead over Sorenson in the standings.
Busch failed in his bid to tie Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide victories. He stands on 48.
The front of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was mashed in, but he ducked around the wreckage and finished the race.
“I didn’t want that kind of view,” he said. The Associated Press
Click Here to Read More:
NASCAR Nationwide Series: 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover - Race Results
| 
|